If you’ve ever looked back at the golden years of sports car racing and thought, “I’d love to have one of those that I could drive to work” then your day has arrived. A company called Nichols is building a 700-horsepower, ridiculously light modern take on the original Can-Am series formula. The cars are street legal, and production has just begun.
Inspired By The Early Years Of Can-Am Racing
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The car is called the Nichols N1A, which is a nod to the McLaren M1A, the early Can-Am car that inspired this design. The car has more than just a name in common with McLaren, though, because designer and namesake Steve Nichols was Chief Designer at the F1 team for years, including the Prost and Senna years. He was design chief and lead engineer for the MP4/4 of 1988, the car that won all but one pole and one race that year and led nearly every lap.
While the N1A took years to develop, production turned out to be the hardest part. To get the car from prototype form to something customers would buy, Nichols started a partnership with Ray Mallock Ltd. That company builds race cars for major manufacturers. It has also brought multiple low-volume cars to life.
The last step before signing off on production? A Welsh road trip, firing down some of the country’s best back roads before hitting the Pembrey Circuit for some hot laps. Not a bad way to make sure everything’s ready to go, and the final car is a beast. This modern take on the M1A brings just enough of the late ’60s character to the road, but the bits underneath are entirely modern.
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The Nichols Cars N1A takes inspiration from the McLaren M1A Can-Am series racer from the 1960s.
A 475-horsepower, 6.2-liter Chevrolet V8 is the standard engine, and with the car under 2,000 pounds, that’s probably enough for most. But the Can-Am series was never about “enough,” so you can also get the car with a hand-built derivative of the Chevrolet LS7. That’s a 7.0L mill, a dry sump oiling system, and 700 hp, complete with velocity stacks poking out from behind the seats and a six-speed manual handling the power.
Former F1 Designer Brings A Driver’s Car. Stop Us If You’ve Heard That One
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The chassis is a mix of aluminum and carbon fiber to help keep the weight down, and it wears carbon fiber bodywork. Four-way adjustable shocks at all four corners let the owner set up the car’s balance and ride exactly how they want it. Nichols says it has tuned the spring rates to make sure it’s predictable on-track, but more “accessible” on the road. It also improved cooling by adding a wider radiator.
Steve Nichols spent decades in F1, first with McLaren, then with Ferrari, Sauber, Jordan, and Jaguar. His name isn’t as well known as Adrian Newey or Gordon Murray, but maybe it should be. And, much like Gordon Murray Automotive has done for its namesake, success here could give Nichols some more recognition.
The company plans to build no more than 150 of these cars. Pricing starts from $570,000, which seems a bargain against the multi-million-dollar GMA cars. This is hardly the same beast, but both vehicles are created and engineered for maximum driver engagement.
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Legendary automotive engineer Steve Nichols is behind the car.
Nichols’ launch edition car, the Icon 88 (that MP4/4’s year), is limited to just 15 cars. They’re more expensive, at $635,000, but each one will commemorate one of the McLaren F1 race wins from that year. Customer deliveries start later this year.
